


The right people

by ykari



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: 2009 Dan Howell, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Fluff, Long soulmate mark, M/M, My First AO3 Post, My First Work in This Fandom, Nerdiness, Phanfiction, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, soulmate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:41:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23717596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ykari/pseuds/ykari
Summary: Just the fluffy Soulmate AU you're looking for when you're sad and lonely. Dan and Phil live in a world where you get a mark on your arm on your eighteenth birthday with your soulmate's first words to you. Phil is an hopeless romantic and is quite surprised when his mark turns out to be that long.
Relationships: Dan Howell & Phil Lester, Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Comments: 5
Kudos: 94





	The right people

When Phil turns eighteen, he wakes up in PJ’s guest bed, realizes what day it is and literally freezes in fear.  
He struggles with palpitations for the next sixty seconds, forcing himself to look at everything but his arm, and still there is definitely some peeping in that direction, even if he can just go as far as a blurry picture of what seems like a very long and messy scribble.  
He has never felt that kind of shivers down his spine and something tells him it’s related to the fact he’s been waiting his whole existence for that particular day, but you can never know.  
The room is silent around him, except for the far clank of dishes coming from PJ’s kitchen. His mom is probably making breakfast for them and Phil can’t believe people are carrying on as normal while he’s experiencing all that.  
For the record, he’s perfectly fine with the idea of spending the rest of his life staring aimlessly at the ceiling, but PJ bursts into the room right in that moment and promptly takes Phil’s arm like it’s some useless furniture item instead of a vital part of his friend’s body.  
“Hey!” Phil shouts, getting up. “It hurts!”  
PJ stops squeezing, but moves the arm close to his face, literally half an inch away from his nose.  
“Your soulmate must be pretty mouthy” he mocks. “Is this an R?”  
Phil breaks free of his grip. “I don’t know”.  
“You didn’t read it?” PJ asks, surprised. “Aren’t you curious?”  
“Of course I am. I’m just scared.”  
He doesn’t care about being judged. This is a big deal for him.  
PJ stops him from unconsciously rubbing his mark. Apparently, he’s not even smirking. He knows Phil cares lots about the whole soulmate thing.  
“C’mon” he says, placing his hand on Phil’s shoulder. “It’s not like you’ll be able to decipher it anyway”.  
They both let out a chuckle.  
“I know it’s stupid”. Phil shakes his head, trying to enjoy the excitement in his stomach. “I just can’t believe it’s happening.”  
He forces himself to take a breath and feels PJ sitting next to him.  
“Good luck” he laughs. “I honestly just got the word ‘videogames’ so far”.  
Phil smiles and looks at the mark, trying not to identify any of the letters yet. It’s really long. Probably like a paragraph of one of his English books or something. The handwriting is sloppy, with a lot of space between the words. He wonders what kind of person would talk so much to a complete stranger.  
Maybe it’s one of those formal greeting speech. Or one of his fans freaking out. And what if they’re giving Phil an earful? He should just read it, at this point.  
“Um.”  
Turning to PJ, he finds out he’s having a hard time keeping a straight face. “Don’t look at me, man. It’s your soulmate”.  
It takes a while, but eventually they have it all written down in PJ’s more readable handwriting. Phil isn’t sure he could’ve done it without his help. He knows, though, that all the hypothesis he’s made are wrong. His soulmate is neither a salesperson nor an angry fan.  
Just like Phil, he’s simply a clueless weirdo.

═════════════

Phil is walking to his apartment after Chris’ party. The whole night has been fun, but he’s kind of tired and can’t wait to hit the sheets. He has to wake up at a decent time tomorrow if he wants to plan the new channel with Charlie and record his new Space Adventures series within the end of the day. He searches for the phone in his pockets, wondering what time it is and how many hours of sleep are left for him.  
The screen says 01:56 a.m., which isn’t so bad. Before he can put the phone back, he catches a glimpse of his soulmate mark under the jacket. It has been four years now since it has appeared, and he still has no clue who his soulmate is. He’s even gotten over that phase of desperation that makes you go everywhere hoping you will meet them. Since he knows they’re probably nerdy, he’s visited Comic Cons, game rooms, bookstores, art exhibitions, movie theaters and countless game stores. Randomly talking to strangers wasn’t that good for his reputation, but it’s not a problem anymore. After all, his mark clearly shows it will be his soulmate to start the conversation.  
And that’s… frustrating. Phil really can’t do anything but wait for them to magically appear.  
As he takes the back door keys under the potted plant placed behind his apartment, he sighs. There’s no reason for him to get so sad. His life is good: he’s got friends and now even a degree. His Youtube channel is growing more than he ever thought was possible. Why is he going all anxious on this?  
He leans against the first floor balcony railing, his arms crossed. He doesn’t want to get in just yet. There’s a cool breeze on his face and he breaths it all in, looking at the sky. The stars are barely visible, but are there.  
He knows the stories. People with the mark, but making it to 70 without meeting anybody. People whose mark has disappeared in a few years, or become a black stain.  
Phil has always dreamed of love. Even when he was a child, or when those kids were bullying him for their suspicions on his sexuality. They could never make him doubt. Nobody could. Phil was born a romantic and has never changed. He’s weird, sure. Sometimes awkward or foolish. Sometimes he’s naive and it’s very easy for people to take advantage of that. But he isn’t discouraged by that. He knows… hopes... that there’s someone out there. Someone like him. Someone that likes Phil just the way he is.  
But it’s late at night. The cars are parked, the lights are off, and his whole apartment yard is empty except for that one tall guy sitting on the wall under the outside railing.  
Phil hadn’t noticed him before. He’s thin, with straight hair, wearing a plaid shirt. Phil first instinct is to go and ask if he’s cold. But then... he wonders who he is. A new flatmate? A friend visiting Lucas from third floor? His face isn’t familiar at all.  
Before he knows it, he’s walking towards him, almost touching the wall when he stops, and has no idea what to say. Has the guy even noticed at all? He isn’t moving, except from his legs swinging in the air. Somehow Phil ends up staring at his hands. They’re pale under the moonlight, and Phil feels cold just by looking at them. His fingers are long, like those of a pianist.  
Then he catches the guy staring at him. He’s... gorgeous.  
If he had to guess, he would say he’s seventeen or eighteen years old. His fringe is combed on one side, partially covering his left eye. His face seems lost, but also kind of friendly. Like he’s hoping Phil will be nice to him.  
And Phil feels an air bubble growing inside his stomach. This guy’s having a bad day. Of course he isn’t going to let him down.  
Before he can think of anything polite to say, the stranger looks at the ground and starts talking.  
“You know that thing when you’re playing videogames and you completely shut off the rest of the world because you’re intrinsically insecure and you don’t feel strong enough to face reality and people and who you want to be and suddenly your mom is inviting people over because she’s worried about your social life but she knows nothing about you and calls the wrong kind of people and you’re stuck there trying to find something to say but you don’t wanna be rude and of course you say something weird that they think it’s ridiculous and they laugh at you and start treating you like shit and you just want to go back playing videogames all day again and it’s just this infinite loop you can’t escape from and you cry and you have an existential crisis and you realize your fears are ruining your own life and you don’t know how to stop thinking that it’s your fault even if…”  
“You did nothing wrong the whole time” Phil says, out of habit, and they end up talking together. He’s not sure his heart is working as it should right now.  
The stranger blinks, looking up at Phil again. He’s searching for something on his face, and Phil is afraid he knows exactly what it is.  
“Can I-”  
The boy’s eyes are fixed on Phil’s left arm, but Phil is paralyzed. He nods only slightly, and when those pale, long fingers reach for his sleeve, he wonders how the stranger could have noticed.  
“Woah”.  
Phil is used to that kind of reaction. He’s not used to the beautiful sound of the laugh that follows, though.  
“That’s one hell of a mark. I’m… sorry, I guess.”  
And there’s a little dimple, when the boy smiles at him. It’s adorable. Suddenly, the bubble in Phil’s stomach pops.  
“I’m Phil” he says, out of impulse.  
“Hi, Phil”.  
And again, when he answers kind of jokingly. Right in his cheek.  
“I’m Dan. Daniel, actually. Daniel Howell”.  
His voice cracks for a moment between the syllables of the first ‘Daniel’. Phil is not sure if he’s dreaming it, but his eyes look shinier now. And when he offers his hand to greet, Phil doesn’t take it. Instead, he rolls up Dan’s shirt sleeve, slowly, because he’s still in some sort of trance and they’ve just met and Dan has the right to stop him if he doesn’t want him to. The words ‘you did nothing wrong the whole time’ are printed there, in Phil’s gentle handwriting, taking up way less room than Phil’s mark.  
And he can’t believe this is happening. 

There’s an awkward silence after the proper introduction. Dan is kind of fidgety and Phil is immersed in his own thoughts. There’s this emptiness around them, typical of the night, that just makes this moment unworldly. Phil doesn’t know what to say, but feels like even if he knew, he wouldn’t talk. He’s filled with wonder and happiness and safety and something else that he can’t quite define.  
But Dan just spilled something personal to him. The normal, human reaction to that would be saying something nice and reassuring. It’s weird, but Phil is now realizing he’s known for a long time a question he should’ve had an answer to. And yet, in all these years, he has never thought once about what to answer.  
He feels obliged to say something. Anything. He doesn’t want Dan to think he has spent all this time without even trying to come up with advice.  
“So…” he says, breaking the silence. He’s not brave enough to look at Dan, yet. “About what you said”.  
“Oh, that. Just… never mind. It’s doesn’t matter anymore”.  
There’s a confidence that wasn’t there before in Dan’s voice. Phil is so taken aback he looks at his face. He wants to see where it came from.  
Dan’s expression is free, but he’s also crying.  
He’s got a little shimmering strip on his cheek, traced by a tear. Phil doesn’t think while he wipes it away. Dan shakes his head, trying to do it on his own. He’s clearly ashamed, and Phil removes his hand.  
“I just wanted to say… maybe you just need to find the right people”.  
For some reason, the words come to him naturally now that he has seen Dan crying.  
And Dan is secretly smiling, as if he doesn’t want to. He stands up, slowly, and Phil is surprised to see he’s the tall one.  
“I know” Dan says, without even warning that his voice was gonna sound so happy. “I did”.  
He touches Phil’s nose with one finger, as if he was teasing him.  
Phil feels something warm in his chest. And he just smiles.

**Author's Note:**

> my first Phanfic on here :) thought something light and fluffy might be a good start


End file.
